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The Saturday teatime kick-off pits together two teams in a decent position after eight matches. Everton will want to climb from 16th, but after four games without defeat, they have steered clear of the relegation zone and can build on their uptick in results.
Having lost their first four matches, including routs by Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur, Everton fans had legitimate concerns that another relegation scrap was on the horizon.
The Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Southampton added to Sean Dyche’s woes, but since then, the Toffees are unbeaten in four and kept a pair of clean sheets in their two latest fixtures.
Everton’s brightest spark as of late has been Iliman Ndiaye, who scored in each of their last two away games. Dwight McNeil has also had a terrific start to the campaign, with seven goal contributions in all competitions.
Fulham took the lead against both Manchester City and Aston Villa in the Premier League this month, but despite their stubbornness were unable to take points from either of the Champions League sides.
Marco Silva shouldn’t be too concerned by the narrow loss at the Etihad Stadium or the home defeat versus Aston Villa, particularly as Joachim Andersen’s red card against the West Midlands outfit made their task much more difficult.
The Cottagers had registered three top-flight victories and two draws before the trip to Manchester, and are marginal favourites to return to winning ways against more beatable opposition this weekend.
Recent meetings between Everton and Fulham have tended not to produce many goals, especially from the Toffees, who have only found the net once in their last five league encounters against the West London club.
McNeil provided that effort in a game Fulham won 3-1 at Goodison Park last April. The Cottagers have won the other two league match-ups on Merseyside since 2021 - a 2-0 under Scott Parker and a 1-0 with Silva in charge on the opening weekend of last season.
Everton did breach the Fulham backline in a Carabao Cup tie in December 2023 but lost the penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.
Each of the last two fixtures between the sides at Craven Cottage have ended goalless.
Fulham have had Everton’s number over the past four years, but the home side come into this off the back of some excellent displays.
Dyche has steadied the ship after a rocky start, while Silva is looking to put an end to the mini-losing streak.
Idrissa Gueye was restored to Everton’s starting lineup for the triumph over Ipswich Town and is expected to get the nod in midfield against Fulham. The best bet is for the Senegal international to commit over 1.5 fouls.
Dyche has had some tricky decisions to make in midfield since Lyon loanee Orel Mangala was introduced to the team. The ex-Burnley boss dropped the Belgian for the trip to Ipswich, paving the way for Gueye’s return to the XI.
There had been calls for Abdoulaye Doucoure to be benched instead of Mangala, but Dyche stuck with the 31-year-old and will surely keep it the same on Saturday after a win and a clean sheet.
Gueye and Doucoure protected the back four well at Portman Road, with the former not being afraid to make necessary fouls in each of his appearances this term.
His foul numbers in league starts for 2024-25 are 2, 2, 2, 2, 1. Against a Fulham team that likes to dominate the ball, Gueye will be responsible for breaking down their attacks and keeping an eye on Andreas Pereira, who has drawn 10 fouls (1.46 per 90) so far this season.
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